The standard wheelbarrow consists of a wheel out front, handles, and an area for transporting materials. Traditionally, wheelbarrows center the load directly behind a single front wheel and require the user to lift, balance, and push the load to the desired location.
Since the invention of the above wheelbarrow, people have tried to improve on this basic design. They have made wheelbarrows with two wheels to balance the load, but this prevents them from transporting across hills because they tip over. They have made wheelbarrows that have dumping features so you do not have to lift the handles to dump, but this makes the wheelbarrow heavy, expensive, and this action is slower than just lifting the handles to dump. In recent years, gas or electric powered wheelbarrows have come to market to assist in moving the load from point A to point B.
Even with the power assist wheelbarrow, the wheelbarrow is limited because the user has to lift on average 25% or more of the load with the handles when transporting. Additionally, with a powered wheelbarrow comes a larger capacity tub which also raises the center of gravity of the unit. This higher center of gravity makes balancing harder and more likely to tip during use. With these limitations on a powered wheelbarrow, many contractors use 4-wheel, gas powered buggies that may weigh in excess of 350 pounds to transport larger loads than a traditional wheelbarrow can handle. These larger buggies are expensive, slower to transport and dump, damage turf where used, and require a trailer to transport them.
Another limiting feature of motorized wheelbarrows is their inability to control heavy loads through varying terrain or on hills. Motorized wheel barrows utilize a gas engine, and some type of clutch (manual or centrifugal) to engage the engine to the drive wheel to power it forward. When disengaged, the front wheel is free to roll allowing a heavy load to pull the operator down a hill uncontrollably. Some powered wheelbarrows may have a hand brake which the operator can use to help control a load in such an instance but it adds more complexity and chance for failure resulting in a dangerous situation. With these clutched motorized units, they do not offer reverse or the ability for the operator to change direction easily with a heavy load.
With all of these problems, it is easy to see why current powered wheelbarrows are not widely used. Thus, there is a need in the art for a wheelbarrow that is powered, light weight, easy to use, has powered forward and reverse, controls speed on hills, and improves on balancing the load making it easier for the operator to move larger and heavier loads than before.